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LucyP
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I do a load a day, usually based on the housekeeping task for the day - ie whites/towels on Monday when I clean the bathroom - or our schedule, ie lights on Friday, darks on Saturday so my husband has clean clothes for Monday. Each day in winter, I do a load and put it on the rack to dry, then fold as I empty the rack next morning while the children finish breakfast so the rack is empty for the next load. In the better weather we line dry outside...bliss! I just don't have space to store washed but unfolded, non-put away laundry, so it is all folded and put away each day.
ETA - I think this works for us because we have few clothes. If I don't fold and put away (the children help with this) we won't have anything to wear! Often I take the basket of dry laundry upstairs and dump it on the bed, and in the difference between how quickly I dress and how long it takes the children, I do the putting away then. It sounds like having some extra hangers that you can keep near your machines or in a tote accessible to the children so they can run and fetch them would be good? I hang wet shirts and tops on hangers, and ask DS to run fetch them - we keep spare hangers on the floor of the wardrobe so they are accessible to him.
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mom2mpr
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LucyP wrote:
ETA - I think this works for us because we have few clothes. If I don't fold and put away (the children help with this) we won't have anything to wear! |
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I forgot to mention this key thing. We only have 5 outfits each. It does make life so much easier. And the only reason we ahve 5 is so we can travel. I'd have 2 to 3 if it were up to me!!
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amyable
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mom2mpr wrote:
LucyP wrote:
ETA - I think this works for us because we have few clothes. If I don't fold and put away (the children help with this) we won't have anything to wear! |
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I forgot to mention this key thing. We only have 5 outfits each. It does make life so much easier. And the only reason we ahve 5 is so we can travel. I'd have 2 to 3 if it were up to me!! |
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I love to hear that this is working for people. I need to do another clothes purge (we've recently received some nice hand me downs) and I want to be brutal! 
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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melanie
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Yeah...we have too many clothes. I have been doing most of laundry weekly. Not all at once, but I'll do the upstairs laundry twice a week (which is mine, dh's, and my toddler), do the other bathroom hampers once a week, my daughter's once a week, the boys once a week,,,diapers thrown in a couple times a week...if I could get everyone's laundry done more often, we could get by with less clothing. This hasn't been much of a concern before. I have lots of hand me downs and I've always shopped at thrift stores and haven't had trouble finding plenty of clothes. Lately though, I'm having a harder time getting to the thrift stores and have been stuck a couple of times buying clothes new. It's straining the budget. If I got the laundry done more often, each child could get away with three or four decent outfits at least. Also, while the hanger thing is an issue, it'd be less of one if I got the laundry done more frequently. When I do the boys' clothes once a week, there's a *ton* of stuff to stand at their closet and hang up! If I get their laundry done more often, it would only be a few things at a time. My oldest folds and puts away her own laundry. I plan to train the 9yo to start doing it next school year, but it will be painful and require constant checking...he is not very, erm, careful about such things...
Laughing at the kids throwing clean clothes down the laundry chute. My oldest has done this. Sometimes I will find the same thing in her laundry over and over again, say a jacket, that I haven't seen her wear in ages, and I'll get onto her because I know the issue is that she doesn't want to take the trouble to hang it up in the coat closet. In the boys room, or in the bathroom that the 9yo is responsible for picking up, I find all kinds of interesting things in the dirty laundry hamper...dental floss, bathroom cups, small toys, bathrobes and slippers...he's obviously taken to using the hamper to pick up the rooms quickly. 
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Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
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LucyP
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| Posted: Jan 19 2010 at 11:09am | IP Logged
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amyable wrote:
I love to hear that this is working for people. I need to do another clothes purge (we've recently received some nice hand me downs) and I want to be brutal! |
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Reduced options work so well for us. I have 3 skirt choices. DD, who is 2, has 2 dresses and 3 pinafores - but until a week or two ago it was 2 pinafores. And it really works, if you adjust a bit - we don't obviously change a dress or skirt or whatever unless it is visably dirty or noticeably smelly. One of my children has more bottoms options than top options as there is an issue with occassional wetting. So it is dependent on each individual.
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anitamarie
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This sounds like a folding issue more than laundry routine.
Do your kids fold, or hang? The older ones probably could. My 2 oldest (12 and 8) have been folding their own laundry for a while now. They are allowed to watch a DVD while they do it. They usually do it in the evening when the youngers are already in bed, but if the laundry is ready, sometimes they do it in the afternoon. The DVD stays on as long as they keep folding, if it's too distracting, then it goes off. 
I fold the rest, usually in the evenings, or if no-one needs me, I'll grab a load or 2 and fold in the afternoon. My dh often helps in the evenings. It keeps my hands busy if we're watching something or we just talk.
Anita
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Becky Parker
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I'm thinking of changing our routine. I read somewhere about a mom with 8 kids. She put a hamper in each room and each day she washed the items in one hamper. For example, Monday was the Master Bedroom/bathroom hamper, Tuesday she washed the clothes in the girls room, Wednesday she did the boy's room clothes, etc. I could see that working, if I stuck to it. I told my oldest ds we were going to try it and each Friday I would wash whatever was in his hamper. If, however, the clothes are on the floor and not in the hamper, he would have to wait until the next week for those! I haven't actually tried it yet though. Something tells me he might not care all that much!
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Kristie 4
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It seems as though each child would need quite a few changes of clothes for the once a week option....
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Kristie in Canada
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Babs
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I have one son who throws his clean laundry down the shoot instead of putting it away and changes clothes constantly.
I have always done the laundry but I am wondering if they should do their own. The two boys still at home are 8 and 11. I am worried that it would be another thing I have to push, push, push, through each step, though. Can anyone tell me if this works in your home, and especially how they finish the process without holding up the next child?
We hang most of our clothes because I have found they are more likely to stay neat and not get tossed down the shoot, and one thing that has really helped me is when the boys take their laundry to the laundry room they also take any empty hangers. A small thing but it saves me a lot of time searching when I only have a few minutes to hang things, usually before everyone is awake or after everyone is asleep.
God Bless,
Barb
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Barbara C.
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Our washer and dryer is in a closet in the kitchen. I have five laundry baskets upstairs. Four are in the master bedroom marked: whites, towels, cold, and warm. The fifth is in the big girls room (although I need to get a bigger one). I sort the fifth one once a week and dump the stuff in the labeled baskets. I also keep a sixth basket on top of the dryer for items that end up downstairs (mainly socks and spill towels), and a seventh one that is for clean laundry only.
My goal is to start all of the laundry Monday morning and have it finished by Tuesday night. It's about six loads. Some weeks I do it; some weeks it runs over 'til Wednesday. The thought of doing laundry every day depresses me, so I am not a happy camper when I have to do an extra load between Thursday and Monday.
Things like towels and whites, which are pretty much a lot of one type of item, I might fold them straight out of the dryer. With my warm and cold loads, though, I often sit in front of the television and fold or carry them up to fold while kids are in the tub (if it spills over to "bath day" on Wednesday morning).
The biggest problem is getting the clean basket up the stairs, especially as I get more and more pregnant. Oh, besides the problem of little kids thinking that stacks of clean laundry on the floor are stepping stones.
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melanie
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My oldest started doing her own laundry when she was 9 or 10...she did just fine with it. I double checked the washer for a while to make sure she wasn't over/under loading it, but she did well. We didn't continue it because the laundry is mixed up now, but she still folds and puts away her own. When we did it this way, she had her own "laundry day". My biggest hassle was remembering to remind her to do her laundry.
I wouldn't expect my 9yo boy to do it though. Different kid, and I just don't think he's ready for it yet. I do plan to teach him to fold and hang his clothes next year though.
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Melanie
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MNMommy
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I used to hate laundry, but now it's one of my most accomplished housework tasks (which really doesn't say much  ).
Here's our system:
1) We don't have a lot of clothes. I have to do laundry every 2-3 days.
2) Two laundry baskets in the house - one upstairs, one downstair and a spot for a pile in front of the washer
3) No sorting - EVER!!!
4) Every morning I carry all the dirty laundry into the laundry room. NOTE: I don't remove the laundry baskets. If I do, they may take days to get back into place.
5) Start a load of laundry during breakfast.
6) Transfer dry clothes from hanging racks into laundry baskets.
6) Hang the current wet load when I remember. If it's early in the day and I have enough laundry, I'll start a second load.
7) Fold clothes when I have two heaping dry laundry baskets - usually happens during a lull in later afternoon. I fold in the living room while the kids play around me.
8) Kids immediately put away their laundry piles. 1yo and 3yo are in training.
My laundry routine has only been a success when my laundry room is off the kitchen. If it's downstairs, laundry just doesn't happen.
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snowbabiesmom
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No Laundry baskets !!
Only one hamper and an open cabinet in the bathroom!
There are seven of us in our house and I have gone from laundry all the time way into the night and early to almost No laundry pile up.
There is a difference between basket and hamper.. Hamper is tall and not easy to load "folded" clothes into therefore it NEVER has folded clothes in it so I never have pile waiting to put away from days ago.
before school starts and the older kids are dong their chores,
I have my 7yo help me. She empties the hamper from my bathroom on the laundry room floor and then goes to the kids bathroom to fill the same hamper with the kids clothes. She pushes it back and dumps those. While she was gone getting the kids clothes I loaded the washer and waited for her to return to add more.
At lunch, she switches and loads the next. I do all of the soap. Once a load is dry, I load the dry clean clothes ( using my one hamper as a transport) onto my bed and fold immediately.. no wrinkles..
we continue until all loads are done and after dinner, the kids all come to my room to get their "piles" and put them away when going to get ready for bed.
I do clothes about two, maybe three times a week, sheets, I'll rotate and towels go in as the third load on wash days.
I never have any piles sitting out waiting to be put away, and i KNOW it is because I don't have any hampers to move the folded piles into .. been there and done that.
I say all of this, but we did use Tax return $ last year to get a huge front loader.. it has saved my life. before, I literally did laundry all day and my dryer never got anything dry.
If folding and putting away is the culprit, GET RID of LAUNDRY BASKETS. You will always get the clothes put away. I promise.
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lapazfarm
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One little thing that has helped to get the littles doing their own laundry was I put little sticky stars on the correct settings on the washer and dryer. The kids know to just turn the knob to the star  and push start. I also used a sharpie to put a line on the measuring cup to indicate the correct amount of detergent.
Little things sometimes make a difference. 
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Theresa
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MNMommy
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| Posted: Jan 20 2010 at 6:55am | IP Logged
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snowbabiesmom wrote:
If folding and putting away is the culprit, GET RID of LAUNDRY BASKETS. You will always get the clothes put away. I promise.
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That's why my laundry baskets don't move from their designated spots. If they move, they get filled with other stuff.
I don't sort for similar reasons. By not sorting, I can usually have all the laudry washed for a few minutes. I love the feeling of knowing that we don't have any dirty laundry in the house, if only for a few minutes every day.
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Jennifer
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SimplyMom
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| Posted: Jan 20 2010 at 9:54am | IP Logged
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I was going to say that limiting the number of clothes you own is the real secret to laundry bliss.
It is really time for another purge around here.
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Darcee
SimplyMom from Simply Catholic
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hylabrook1
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A habit in our house is to fold the laundry as it's removed from the dryer or taken off the line or drying rack. Even if the clean things sit in the basket for a few days, at least they're not all rumpled. To that same end, our laundry baskets are large-ish rectangular ones, so that the clothes can lay flat. Every time I've tried to use round baskets, the folded clothes just never lay right and things get rumpled. Do you get the idea that my main problem is with putting the laundry away? Also, I do much better if I choose a couple of days when we're at home largely to do lots of wash, rather than one or two loads each day. This helps me to concentrate and actually do it, instead of forgetting to move a load to the dryer.  It also really helps that the laundry room is one the main floor where it's not *out of sight/out of mind.*
Peace,
Nancy
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JodieLyn
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Thinking about this.. I also fold immediately after taking things out of the dryer.. now that I'm in that habit things are not all crumpled if we do that.
I don't have room for 10 baskets to be sitting out to put clothes into.. and I sorta doubt they'd get anywhere but in the baskets.
I fold at the dining table.. I stand with the basket on the bench and make stacks on the table. Very little bending and reaching makes this much easier on my back than using the couch and trying to sit while folding. Plus before we eat all the laundry gets put away. Takes minutes if they just do it.
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juststartn
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| Posted: Jan 20 2010 at 5:29pm | IP Logged
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Laundry all the time here.
A load is going almost literally from sun up to sundown. We have a larger capacity front loader. The w/d are in the mudroom, nearest the dining room/kitchen/family room. There is a bathroom off of that...so we *have* to keep the walkway clear.
All dirty laundry is put into the washer asap. If the washer is already going, it gets put in front of the washer until things are emptied again. Dry laundry is pulled out and put into the 'laundry bucket' (a really really large tote bucket). We pull the bucket out at least once a day and fold/sort. 99% of what we have, is either hung up, or doesn't get folded (I ceased bothering, with all of the clothes ending up on the floor or unfolded anyway in the drawers). So what does need to be folded, I fold, and the girls run the piles of sorted laundry back to their respective homes...then we deal with the folded up stuff, and put it up.
The bucket does on occasion get VERY VERY full--esp on days when DH is home. We fold the laundry in the family room--I sit on my chair, and pull from the bucket and sort into piles, or fold things. One of the older two girls usually helps me hang things up (DHs and mine, or the girls' church clothes) and the rest gets hauled back by whomever is not helping me with the hanging up (and that doesn't take long)...
We don't sort the clothes, unless it is red, or new. They haven't gone grimy, or gray, or dull. They all get clean, they are all washed on warm (we use homemade detergent), and they all get dried.
It is not a project that *one* person takes on. It is one for the entire family. We all make the dirty clothes, we can all take care of them, is my take on it.
Rachel
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Mimip
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| Posted: Jan 20 2010 at 6:26pm | IP Logged
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Laundry is one of the only things that really works around here. When our 4th child was born I realized I could go one of two ways with laundry:
Choice A:
Do two loads everyday (M-Sat)
Choice B:
Do 4 loads 3 days a week
We choose B because that way I feel like I get a day off of laundry and I actually finish something 
That being said: I LOVE FOLDING CLOTHES!!! The smell, the warmth, and then the empty baskets I do fold as the clothes comes out of the dryer and the clothes is washed as it gets into the hampers. I store hangers on a bar on top of the washer and dryer and hang as the clothes comes out. For example the girls clothes gets sorted colors, whites and washed that way and then folded into their rectangle hampers. On laundry nights, they pick up their hamper and put it all away. The hamper gets put into the corner of their room.
I do clothes Mondays and Thursdays and sheets, towels, rags Saturday mornings.
Good Luck and I can only pray that you find something that works for you.
BTW: The only days this all doesn't work so well is when we have rain storms since my washer and dryer are outside under our carport
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Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: laundry routines
